Images of incunabula and Incunabula Leaves housed in the the National Diet Library are shown here. The bibliographic information is based on ISTC or Goff. The number from GW (Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke) is indicated, and also the number of printing types used in each incunabulum is described by Typenrepertorium number. Clicking on the linked number in the bibliography will lead you to the images of the founts. Materials are listed in the order of area: 1. Germany 2. Italy 3. France 4. Low Countries 5. England 6. Spain, Portugal. Cities within the area are in order of the date of printing.
Incunabula
At present a collection of 15 incunabula are housed in National Diet Library. The incunabula on display in this exhibition include Aristotle's Problemata, which was purchased in 1926 by the NDL's predecessor, the Imperial Library. Vincent of Beauvais' Speculum naturale (Mirror of nature), Biblia Latina, Solinus’ Polyhistor and Albert od Saxony’s De proportionibus were purchased after World War II. All the other incunabula were donated to the Library. Euclid's Elementa geometriae was previously owned by Mr. Seishi Takahashi, and the rest of the donated works belonged to Mr. Noboru Hara. Of the 15 incunabula, five were printed in Germany and ten in Italy.
Albertus Magnus. De mysterio missae.
Germany
Vincentius Bellovacensis. Speculum naturale.
Germany
Cassiodorus, Magnus Aurelius. Expositio in Psalterium.
Germany
Gregorius I, Pont. Max. Moralia, sive Expositio in Job.
Germany
Aristoteles. Problemata.
Germany
Calderinus, Domitius. Commentarii in Martialem.
Italy
Biblia latina.
Italy
Euclides. Elementa geometriae.
Italy
Valerius Maximus, Gaius. Facta et dicta memorabilia.
Italy
Albertus de Saxonia.De proportionibus.
Italy
Augustinus, Aurelius. De civitate dei.
Italy
Rampigollis, Antonius. Figurae Bibliae.
Italy
Jamblichus. De mysteriis Aegyptiorum,...
Italy
Solinus, Gaius Julius.Polyhistor, sive De mirabilibus mundi, sive Collectanea rerum memorabilium.
Italy
Albertus Magnus. Mariale.
Italy
Incunabula Leaves
All but one of the leaves displayed in this exhibition are included in the collections of three kinds of Incunabula Leaves edited with commentaries by the German incunabula scholar Konrad Haebler (one is shown at the left). Haebler compiled a conspectus of incunabula printing types, Typenrepertorium (1905-24). As an extension of this work, he published a facsimile collection of printing founts (1907-39) and these leaf collections (1927) as well. Three types of leaf collections were compiled, consisting of 115 leaves from German incunabula, 120 leaves from Italian incunabula, and 60 leaves from other western European incunabula. The collections have been compiled in such a way as to provide practical examples of printing types and each collection is accompanied by a commentary. In addition to 54 selections from the collections, we are also exhibiting a leaf from Gutenberg and the Catholicon of 1460 (New York, 1936) which was published by Margaret Stillwell with a page of the original leaf attached.
Biblia latina.
Germany
Gregorius IX, Pont. Max. Decretales cum glossa.
Germany
Balbus, Johannes. Catholicon.
Germany
Thomas Aquinas. Summa theologiae: Pars secunda: prima pars.
Germany
Cassiodorus, Magnus Aurelius. Historia ecclesiastica tripartite.
Germany
Cato, Dionysius. Disticha de moribus.
Germany
Bartholomaeus de Sancto Concordio. Summa de casibus conscientiae.
Germany
Biblia [German].
Germany
Missale Frisingense.
Germany
Rainerius de Pisis. Pantheologia, sive Summa universae theologiae.
Germany
Rainerius de Pisis. Pantheologia, sive Summa universae theologiae.
Germany
Magni, Jacobus. Sophologium.
Germany
Biblia latina.
Germany
Terentius Afer, Publius. Comoediae.
Germany
Leonardus de Utino. Sermones de sanctis.
Germany
Paraldus, Guilielmus. Summa de virtutibus et vitiis.
Germany
Nicolaus de Lyra. Postilla super totam Bibliam.
Germany
Jacobus de Voragine. Legenda aurea sanctorum, sive Lombardica historia.
Germany
Livius, Titus. Historia Romanae decades.
Italy
Lactantius, Lucius Coelius Firmianus. Opera.
Italy
Eyb, Albertus de. Margarita poetica.
Italy
Scriptores rei rusticae.
Italy
Justinianus. Infortiatum.
Italy
Rolewinck, Werner. Fasciculus temporum.
Italy
Biblia latina.
Italy
Missale Dominicanum seu Ordinis Praedicatorum.
Italy
Eusebius Caesariensis. Chronicon.
Italy
Biblia latina.
Italy
Missale Romanum.
Italy
Aristoteles. Opera. [Greek]
Italy
Brunus Aretinus, Leonardus. Aquila volante.
Italy
Thomas Aquinas. Commentaria in omnes epistolas Sancti Pauli.
Tristan. Le roman du noble et vaillant Chevalier Tristan. Rouen: Jean Le Bourgeois, 30 Sept. 1489. [YP21-83, Pl.46] GW 12815. Typ.1:106/107G ISTC: it00430000
In about 1485, Guillaume Le Talleur brought the art of printing to Rouen, which later became the third-largest city of printing in France. Jean Le Bourgeois began printing in Rouen in 1488, and there are about 30 known titles of incunabula of his work, including six editions of Guido de Monte Rocherii's Manipulus curatorum.
Le roman du noble et vaillant Chevalier Tristan is considered to have originated from a Celtic legend. It widely spread by troubadours in the 12th century. Although there are many existing manuscripts in prose, which took form in the 13th century, the book shown here is the first French incunabulum. The publisher is Antoine Vérard, who continued to publish the same book in Paris.
"Incunabula: Dawn of Western Printing" is one of digital exhibitions of the National Diet Library. The NDL Digital Exhibitions features the NDL’s unique collections with explanations covering various themes such as nishiki-e, landscape photographs and historical materials. Discover your favorites!
![Biblia [German].](../../collection/images/t/0007_t.jpg)
![Opera. [Greek]](../../collection/images/t/0029_t.jpg)
![Dialogi. [Greek]](../../collection/images/t/0034_t.jpg)
